Lifestyles of the Infamous
by Jimmy the Gothic Egg
Summary: The H.I.V.E. Academy for Extraordinary Young People has always prided itself on toplevel students. Let's see if their newest applicants can't shake things up a bit.
1. Fish Camp

I saw the first episode of Teen Titans again today. It's been forever since I watched that show, even if I still write fanfiction for it. So I created this, because I've always loved the villain. Far more interesting than half the heroes, except in DC comics case, because all their heroes are so cool.

Oh, and I figured out my masochistic streak. I spent today looking at bad fanfiction, trying to figure out how a story that nearly made me gag got fourteen reviews in the first chapter ((only one of the said "you should delete this" and they didn't even spell delete correctly)) and I just couldn't stop. Please, help me weed out bad fanfiction. It made me want to stab myself, or throw up, or something.

_Lifestyles of the Infamous_

**First Class:** **Fish Camp**

"This is stupid."

The young women stood in front of the building with a posture of pure disdain. It looked odd to anyone passing by. A girl with ashen skin and neon pink hair standing before the gothic exterior of an old church. She looked like a runaway with the duffel bag at her side. She stared up at the stain glass windows with curiosity and annoyance, as if it was too much to even stand in front of the ugly thing.

"Why am I even here?"

"You're here because you got a letter," said a voice, and she jumped, pulling herself into a defensive stance. She looked around and all she saw was an elderly woman in a grey business suit. Her snow white hair was pulled back into a neat bun, and she held a notebook in her arms. Her gaze was a casual one, as if she had just happened across such a place. "Jinx is what you go by?"

The teenager stared at her, a confused expression on her face. "Yeah." She turned to fully face the woman. She remembered the letter. It was still in her pocket. Only a week ago, a mysterious sender had sent a note telling her he had a proposition for her, a way to harness her powers and use them for her own purposes.

The woman nodded. "Do you have the letter with you?"

Jinx brought it from her pocket, holding out the crumpled paper. She didn't bother to step closer, and the woman took it holding it up to some cell phone looking thing she had in her pocket. On the corner of the paper was a yellow hexagon with H.A.E.Y.P. written across in bold lettering. The woman held the machine up to it, and it whirred for a moment until it let out a high pitched beep. She smiled, handing the note back to Jinx.

"Everything seems to be in order. Come inside. We can find your dorm and-"

"Hold on a second!" Jinx shouted, stepping away from the woman. "Why was I called here? What is this place? And why should I go with a hag I don't even know?"

The woman bristled at the "hag" comment but brushed it aside. "You were called here because you are an 'extraordinary young person.' This place is an old Church of Brother Blood. And you should come with me because through this door is a way to using your powers for whatever you see fit."

A church? "This is some religious thing? And what powers? I don't understand a word you're saying."

"Don't think we don't know about your powers. You caused quite a stir in India with your 'bad luck.' And no, this is not religious. This is a school to teach. The H.I.V.E. Academy for Extraordinary Young People. We teach how to use your powers for your own personal gain."

"So… You mean like super villains?"

"To put it crudely, yes. Villainy is a goal many of our students intend to reach. And, with their powers, it would be all too easy. But, in short, this is a place to be accepted."

Jinx scoffed. She'd chosen the cheesiest line to use. The young sorceress had never bought that "acceptance" crap, nor any of the "we can become like a family" bull they felt the need to feed her. She'd spent the last few years in a special prison for villains until she'd broken out and went into hiding. But… A school for villains? It seemed to good to be true. She glanced at the woman before picking up her duffel bag.

"It wouldn't hurt to see what you guys had to offer."

The woman smiled, leading her through the doors. "I'm glad you chose the right decision."

"And what will I be calling you?"

"Headmistress will do for now."

* * *

Baran Flinders was fourteen years old and already nearing the size of an elephant. 

He sat in an isolated cell, muscular arms locked together by metal gloves joined together. They were made of the strongest metal, and were unbreakable. His legs were joined in the same way, and his head was locked into place by a strange metal helmet. He'd already broken his bed from sitting on it too long, and now all he had were the dull grey walls of a prison cell.

Baran did not care too much at the moment.

Since he'd been locked in the cell, he had not so much as moved. Many of the guards had given a relieved sigh and gone about their business, learning to ignore the behemoth. And what was the reason for this detachment from the world?

Right before being locked up in one of the greatest holding places for the super-powered, Baran Flinders had watched his sister die.

It was, of course, the worst thing one could experience. And Baran had been overly protective of his sister since they were young. He'd always worried for her, and when she had needed him, he had let her down in the worst possible way.

There was nothing being done to console the young giant. He was thankful that there'd been no mention of Selinda since her death, or maybe there was. He hadn't listened to a word spoken since he'd gotten there. All he could do was stare straight ahead.

It was the second month of his imprisonment when the letter came.

The guards had checked it for anything dangerous, read it for any clue of an escape attempt. All they'd turned up was a letter from a concerned man in Australia, who'd wondered about the health of someone he'd once cared for. Giving up on finding something suspicious, the guards handed it to him, already open, since he couldn't use his hands.

Baran stared at it lazily before actually trying to read it. Words were meaningless to him, and he'd never been that great of a reader in the first place. But there was a simple message on there, one that the guards had inexplicably missed.

_Do not worry, Baran. Escape and come to me, and you shall have what you lost returned to you._

The message was clear on the offer. Where this man was, the address was stated clearly. He apparently needed this letter to get to the sender, and that wouldn't be a problem.

Baran was not the smartest person in the world. He was actually a bit of simpleton. But he knew the offer was near impossible. You could not bring someone back from the dead.

Yet…

In his lifetime, he'd seen his share of impossibilities happen. What if this man could bring his sister back? What if he was about to pass up a chance he'd never get again?

Baran made his decision right there.

He stared at the unbreakable metal cuffs and broke them in half.

Instantly a red alarm went off. Obviously, someone predicted this happening. But Baran didn't care. He just ripped the metal off neatly and slammed his fist against the dead walls of his prison. These were apparently made of something stronger, or more of it, because it took him three punches to break through, into the night air.

He was lucky it was night. Easier cover. He just needed to get to this address and seek refuge.

The guards were opening the door. He picked up a large chunk of the wall and flung it at them, using the moment of confusion to get ahead. In a few simple steps he was almost at the edge of the compound. He had superhuman speed along with his strength, and it wasn't hard to slam through the hard concrete of the exterior wall.

In five minutes he was standing before the abandoned Church of Brother Blood.

There was something on the wall, a machine. The doors were shut, and he wondered if he should just break through them.

"_Please present verification."_

The machine had talked to him. It was an ugly thing against the stony exterior of the church. It was a bright yellow color, in the shape of a hexagon. He realized it matched the shape of the logo on the corner of the letter he'd received, and he held up the paper, showing the machine the H.A.E.Y.P. symbol. It whirred for an instant, then let out a high pitched beep. The doors made a creaking noise as they opened.

"_Welcome, Mammoth…"_

* * *

The crate stood there, unguarded. 

The two shadowy men glanced at each other.

"Is it the right box?"

Yes, they could see it from where they stood, even in the dim light. "Gizmo Inc." was printed in bold letters across the crate's exterior, but it was standing there, by itself, with no sign of the mysterious Mikron O'Jeneus anywhere nearby.

They stepped closer, hands on their weapons.

"Think it's a trap?"

"Could be."

Suddenly, a bright light appeared in front of them, and they hopped back, keeping a low cover. The light formed together in a holographic form of a man dressed all in black.

"So you're here," the hologram said, surprisingly clear. "Did you bring the money?"

The two men shared looks once more before stepping in front of the box and the hologram.

"Yeah," the first one answered. "Are you watching us?"

"I can see you just fine. I could the whole time. Now, how much did you bring?"

They brought out the manila folder, closed and sealed carefully, filled with a considerable lump. "It's all five hundred in various bills, just as you requested. We don't have to watch this thing count it, do we?"

The hologram chuckled. "No. Just set the folder down and take the box. It's exactly what you asked for."

The men did as they were told. It took them a total of ten minutes to lug the crate back to their car. The hologram stood there, watching them the whole time.

"Careful," it warned. "The stuff in there's fragile."

And heavy, they noted. Whatever the boss had ordered, it weighed a ton. How could they transport this inconspicuously? It even had the words "Gizmo Inc." written across in large lettering. If the cops stopped them, they were sure to investigate.

The hologram didn't leave, even as they drove away. But once they were out of sight, it disappeared, and out of the shadows stepped Mikron O'Jeneus, a.k.a. Gizmo.

The midget adolescence chuckled as he swept up the envelope.

"Those pip-sniffers were too easy. I could've made that generator for two hundred, less even."

He opened the folder carefully, to check the bills. He always installed a break-down chip in the machines he made, in case he was conned out. That way, he'd still have some money, and the machine wouldn't work for its investor. But these guys had come through to his exact commands. He laughed again, until he noticed something sticking out between the bills.

"What's this?"

He unfolded the note cautiously, grimacing at the signature in the corner. H.A.E.Y.P. was an organization of the H.I.V.E. He'd never cared much for what he'd heard about them, but why were they suddenly sending him letters?

He skimmed the note. What were they trying to do with him? Get him to go to a strange location? What was the H.A.E.Y.P. anyway? There was no explanation on the page.

He glanced at his watch. It was only midnight. He had a whole night to kill.

* * *

The H.I.V.E. headmistress smiled as her final recruit arrived. She'd assumed they'd all come. Why not? There was nothing to be lost at the H.A.E.Y.P. They would find their dreams here. They would realize the full extent of their powers. And they might just take over the world. 

All according to his wishes…

**Notes:**

I tried to keep with the comic origins for these characters. Jinx was a sorceress in India where she killed three other people for ultimate power or something like that and was sent to America, who were the only ones with the technology to hold her.

Mammoth does have a sister named Selinda: Shimmer. Shimmer never showed up in the TV show. I was sad. They grew up in Australia before being taken in by a Markovian scientist. Or something like that. Shimmer did die in the comics, but she was later brought back.

Gizmo was originally a middle-aged midget who started Gizmo Inc., which sold to legal and illegal sources alike. I like the idea of a tall-hologram of himself. He is "vertically-challenged."

This will be the story of our anti-Titans, from their rise in the H.A.E.Y.P to their fall at Brother Blood's final battle.

I wish Golden-sama would update his Jericho/Raven/BB story. I might have to write one if he doesn't hurry it up.

Oh, and about those stories, a few actually hurt to read, a few made me gag, and one made me cry.

**Next Chapter: Teammates?**


	2. Making Friends and Time Bombs

This, in no way, means I'm not dead. This is my ghost writing from beneath my grave. I'm just updating because I don't want it to sit with just one chapter for too long. It starts to smell funny.

_Lifestyles of the Infamous_

**Second Class: Making Friends and Time Bombs**

Jinx flipped through her textbook, eyes drooping dangerously. What did she care of the world's greatest conquerors? What was she supposed to learn from them? Invading Russia in the winter is a bad idea? Napoleon hadn't taught her much else.

The dorm room slid open as her roommate stepped in. Jinx looked up for a second before returning to her book. Of course she was stuck with the creepiest girl in the whole place. Cheshire and her goddamned mask. The only time she took it off was to go to sleep or shower, since their exercises and classes were required in full costume. And Jinx got to spend every evening with her. Joy.

Not to mention the girl never spoke. Not a single word. In class, during battle, she remained silent.

Jinx sighed and slammed her textbook shut, standing. Without an explanation to her roommate she got up and left, hoping to clear her head before the test tomorrow.

What was so great about Alexander the Great anyway?

She walked the halls without really noticing where she was going. The place was like a maze built of honeycombs, classrooms everywhere, workout rooms on every corner, and the giant cafeteria the only place they were actually allowed to be teenagers. She'd spent two weeks there, and she'd learned a sign of adolescence was a sign of weakness, which was stupid, considering half the students there were barely above sixteen. There were some "recreational activities" planned at times to keep the school from seeming to dismal. But so far they were expected to learn at an incredible rate and take tests a week after reading the textbook.

Jinx stopped at the cafeteria. Three other kids had gathered there outside the door, peering in with a sense of mischief.

"What's going on?" she asked as she approached. There was no threat in her question but the three jumped up quickly and scurried aside. The tallest, a boy dressed with a silly-looking eye in the middle of his forehead answered her.

"There's something going on inside. We think a fight's gonna start."

The other two stifled giggles and she stared at them a moment before shrugging and walking through to see what they didn't tell her. As she passed through the door, there was an electronic laugh above her. She looked up just in time for a bucket of yesterday's mashed potatoes to land right on top of her head. Laughter erupted around her, and Jinx froze.

"Ha!" a squeaky voice, most prominent in the teenage sorceress's ear, shouted. "That was too easy. I thought she might be _suspicious_ but she came right through!"

Through the mess of potatoes on vibrant pink eye opened. An aura of pink grew around her, and the food sizzled off, landing as barely solid good at her feet. She turned her head mechanically to the annoying voice, eyes still glowing the devilish color. The whole cafeteria quieted, suddenly very afraid what the girl might do.

Jinx pointed a finger at the bucket held by the mechanical device. A stream of pink energy emitted from it, and it broke, raining down gears and parts. She stepped towards the midget that she was so sure rigged the trap and clasped a hand around his neck, raising him above the ground.

"H-Hey! What the-"

"I don't suppose," she said coldly, "this is _your_ work."

He laughed. "Maybe it was. What're you gonna do about it?"

She threw him down. His back instantly released for spider legs and he raised himself up, matching her height easily, even rising above it to stare down at her.

"I think," she answered, a smile now stretching across her features, "You're in for a bout of bad luck."

---

It wasn't until midway through the test that Jinx realized the idiot midget from yesterday was sitting two rows in front of her. She stared at the back of his head for two minutes until she thought of something. The goggles strapped over his eyes were so obviously feeding him information. Well, she couldn't allow someone to cheat. It was her duty to stop him. So, with a quiet snap of her fingers, a wisp of pink energy sliced the strap for the goggles cleanly. They fell forward, breaking as they hit the table. The mechanical midget let out a cry of surprise and anger.

"That will be enough, Gizmo," the professor said, not turning away from his book. "Return to your test."

Gizmo turned to see who would've sabotaged his perfect test record, and his eyes widened when he noticed her. Jinx waved, giving the widest, fakest smile she could conjure, and pointed back to her test.

This, of course, meant war.

---

For the next month, both Jinx and Gizmo experience odd "accidents." Jinx's pencils would run away from her on mechanical frog's legs, while Gizmo's would jus explode when he touched them. Hitting her alarm clock meant waking up to an explosion, but his just seemed to have been chopped in half in the middle of the night. Together they'd "lost" ten textbooks and counting, and lunch was a war zone. The rest of the school learned to keep away.

It was an all out brawl that made the teachers finally step in.

During lunch, both of their meals exploded as they bit into it. Jinx had jumped on top of the table and started shouting that he wouldn't live for another week. He'd responded with a stream of profanities, though half of them seemed made up. He'd sent two rockets her way, two she easily dodged with a fine display of acrobatics. She had returned with a continuous stream of magic that made his mechanical legs buckle beneath him. The entire cafeteria had cleared in fear of being collateral to these two and their war.

Finally the headmistress entered, and all battling stop as she cleared her throat.

"The headmaster would like to meet with you," she said loudly as the two tried to strike innocent poses.

Jinx blinked quickly. Wasn't this woman the head_mistress_? Did they need a headmaster too?

But they followed, muttering threats to each other as they headed to a deserted hallway. The headmistress presented her handprint to the machine and the door slid aside. They entered.

The headmistress did not.

The door slammed behind them, and they stopped their bickering for a moment to realize they had been abandoned in a room that blended together in hexagons and yellow. A man stood in the middle of the room, a white and gold robe stretched over his body. He seemed to be aging, and his hair was the same silvery white, this time gelled back into forks. He stared at them with a hint of amusement, and they straightened up. This was a man to be respected; they could tell that much.

"You two," he began, "have caused quite a bit of damage in my school."

Despite their animosity towards each other, they exchanged glances, uncertain if they were being scolded or awarded.

"I am Brother Blood, the headmaster of this school. I do enjoy finding new talent, and you two have completely mastered any obstacle thrown at you. But, I find you might be able to do more with this talent.

"I have been watching you. All of this school is monitored, so that I can check up on my students, to make sure they are getting all they require. I have seen both of you little pranks. But that's all they are. Pranks. There is so much more you could do with your powers, your abilities, besides tearing up my cafeteria.

"And there's even more you could do as teammates."

Both teenagers let out cries of protest.

"Are you crazy! I'd never work with that half-brained half-sized moron!"

"Why would I team up with this slum-brudger!"

"That's not even a word!"

"Why don't I just rip out the micron you call a brain?"

"I'd like to see you try! You can't even reach my knees!"

"So what if I'm short! At least my abilities don't rely on my capacity to dance!"

"Take that back!"

"Bite me!"

"That's original!"

"I-"

"**ENOUGH**!"

Both teenagers stopped. Their headmaster seemed to have grown ten feet and was staring them down with fire in his eyes. They quieted instantly.

Brother Blood let out a breath to calm himself. "Obviously, there is nothing that will allow you to move beyond your differences. But I, as I see it, there's reason to try…"

For a moment, Brother Blood's eyes glowed a devil red. The two villains-in-training froze as their world turned to a fog. The moment was over quickly, and the two responded simultaneously.

"Yes, Brother Blood."

---

Jinx glared at the boy beside her. He matched it with one of his own before turning back to the situation.

They had been locked in a room, a grid of honeycombs. Before them was a giant machine, a network of tentacles and flying discs and blades readying to chop off any strand of precious hair.

"What are we supposed to do?" she hissed.

Gizmo pulled his goggles down, evaluating the situation. He stayed quiet for two whole minutes, taking up the rest of the three they'd already used. That left them with five to beat it.

"Alright," he finally answered. "You distract it. I'm going to hack it."

"Distract it? What does that-"

"Just go!"

Jinx took in a deep breath and ran forward. How she was supposed to distract a machine was beyond her, but if it got them out of there faster, it would be okay.

The first tentacle came flying at her, its end buzzing with electricity. She cartwheeled beside it, landing to throw a wave of bad luck at it. The tentacle fell sideways, crashing into the one beside it, which in turn landed on the next three. In one simple move she'd taken out all five. She grinned.

There was a rush of air beside her as a disc flew straight past her. She gasped and wheeled around, facing the cannons now. There were ten of them, and not so easily beat. She dodged the first three dangerous discs and landed on top of the first cannon. Two others turned to follow her movements, and took out their brother instead. She jumped from cannon to cannon, letting them take each other out. This was far too easy. And what was Gizmo doing?

She turned for a spilt second to spy on the mechanized midget. He was crouched beside the machine, muttering things under his breath as he worked to hack it. She wished he'd hurry up. They had two minutes left…

A blade whirled by her head. She watched in horror as a few bright pink strands of hair fell beside her.

This thing was going down.

With a burst of magical energy, the ground around her began to shake and fall apart. The machines fell and shattered, and the entire room began to fall apart. Gizmo gave a shout as his goggles short-circuited and groaned. She was ruining this…

The buzzer sounded.

Jinx instantly stopped, blinking away the leftover energy. That had been far too easy, and she'd been by herself. What kind of joke was this?

"_Very nice,"_ they heard the headmaster's voice on the speakers. _"But a distinct lack of responsibility for one's teammate. Return to class."_

A floating honeycomb flew over to them, to take them to the door hidden up on the wall.

"What the hell!" Gizmo hissed. "Why'd you do that?"

She shrugged, petting a giant ponytail. "It messed with my hair. I had to do something to it in return."

Gizmo growled, muttering something about "stupid girls."

**Notes:**

Whee! I like this story. I'll have to bring Mammoth into the next chapter though.

**Next Chapter: Final factors.**


	3. Teammates

_Lifestyles of the Infamous_

**Third Class: Teammates**

Jinx was sleeping through class.

Again.

Class, she learned, was far easier to cheat through, and, for most teachers, that was what they wanted you to do anyway. Managing not to get caught sneaking answers off the person beside you (or across the room, as some students had learned to show off their powers) was something students were doing for extra credit now.

Jinx was not thinking about this, nor was she thinking about the components used to create a bomb, and the intense process of planting it at the center of the city, then sending out your warning and giving adequate time for a hero to try and stop it. (Hopefully, the hero would fail, but Jinx was starting to see why they usually didn't.)

No, Jinx was just tired.

Three training sessions a day could do that to a girl.

She was sure, since others were also going through these intensive training sessions, it was just the fact she was forced to share the sessions with the infuriating midget she was supposed to call a partner. And the weariness of the day's lesson was mostly due to the fact that he was now sitting beside her, playing with a small grey metal ball. The tip of it seemed to be sliced off and replaced with a small green button. He chuckled to himself, rolling it across his desk.

Jinx was now awake and intrigued. She leaned over her desk and onto his.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"I'm not telling you," he hissed back, a smile still stretched across his features.

"Listen you little brat. Tell me what it is or I'm breaking it." She snapped her fingers, letting a spark of pink energy float up, just for good measure.

It worked. Gizmo shielded the ball with his hands, eyes growing wide.

"No!" he cried a little too loudly. "Fine! I'll tell you."

The teacher cast them suspicious looks, clearing his throat a moment before continuing his lesson. Jinx sat back up before slumping down in her seat again. Gizmo gave her a look of triumph and safely tucked the ball away from her magical blasts.

Class ended far too late, but Jinx managed to pick herself up and get ready for the next one. (Something about the intricacies of wiring your doomsday device and evil lair to self destruct.) She pushed her way to the front of the room, only to be blocked by what could only be described as a mammoth.

And that's exactly who it was.

"Move it," she threatened. "Some of us don't want to be in here all day."

It—because she couldn't quite imagine it being completely human just yet—stared down at her, glaring.

_Why is it always the huge guys with no brains?_ She sighed, dropping her arms.

"I said move. Please try and comprehend. It's not so hard."

Judging by Mammoth's expression, it was not a matter of comprehension. In fact, he seemed to understand the situation pretty well. The fact was, she was a tiny sorceress who looked too small to carry her own books, and he was blocking the entire doorway with the muscle strength to lift the building. And she was buzzing around him like an annoying pest.

Jinx, who was tired of waiting patiently, got ready to force her way through the door, when her feet were suddenly no longer touching ground. Mammoth had grabbed her by the top of her head, lifting her up. She stared at him, eyes wide, mouth opening in a mixture of awe and fear, and dropped her books. He stepped over them, moving out of the doorway, and dropped her, letting her land neatly on her rear. She kept staring up, even as he passed, until the professor picked her up and forced her out.

It took another few minutes for Jinx to come out of her stupor. She began walking aimlessly, finally finding the cafeteria, where she noticed Gizmo and a small crowd situated around him.

A sly smile crossed her face. It was time for some payback.

---

"Now explain it to me again," Jinx said, tossing the little grey ball up in the air. A look of horror passed over Gizmo's face.

Gizmo was in the worst position. He was stuck to the wall with paperclips, desperately trying to get free. Jinx was holding him captive until she got some information, but it wasn't making it any easier that she was treating it like a plaything.

"It's a bomb," he recited. "Small explosive. Won't affect more than a few centimeters around it. Packs a punch, though." He smiled proudly. "When put in the right situation."

She tossed it in the air again, and he shouted.

"What were you using it for?" she asked, catching it neatly and stopping to examine it some more.

"I was gonna set it off in the Chem. Lab. It would set off a chain reaction with the other chemicals set out. Boom. No test on Thursday."

She nodded. It was a worthy endeavor. "How many more of these do you got?"

"Why do you wanna know?" he complained. She responded by poising her fingers over the device threateningly.

"Just answer me or I break it in half."

"Fine! Fine! I've only got the prototype—the one you're holding—and two other models. I was gonna test the prototype out first."

"And I just click the little button?"

"Then ten seconds until explosion. Now let me go! And give it back."

She waved her hand at him, and the paperclips came flying out with little pink sparks.

"There you are. But, uh, I think I'll test this for you."

Gizmo landed with a sound thud on the floor, glaring up at her. "Oh, yeah? And what're you going to do with it?"

"Just exact a little revenge. Wanna watch?"

He grinned. "You betcha."

---

Lunch was the perfect time for revenge.

Jinx sauntered casually across the room until she laid eyes on the behemoth that had managed to grant her grievance. She smiled, coming up behind him, leaning over his shoulder to greet him.

"Hi there," she said, arms tucked behind her back, hiding the device. "Remember me?"

Mammoth didn't look up from his food. The saucy sorceress frowned, sitting down beside him.

"The silent brooding type," she sighed. "Or just too stupid to put together sentences?"

He grunted. She leaned over him, dropping the small bomb into the meat he had yet to attack.

"Now, now," she smiled. "I'm just here to be nice. I don't have to be. Piss me off and I can be very mean."

He shoved a very large hand in her face and pushed her back. She flew away from the table, landing with a yelp. It was right then that the small bomb went off, exploding cafeteria food all around. Gizmo had not been joking when he'd said it packed a punch; Mammoth's face was completely covered in the rubbery stuff.

Jinx giggled, pulling herself into an upright position. "See," she said. "I—"

There was no time to finish her statement. Mammoth had brought himself to full height, which was a good three feet above hers. He brought his arms over his head and slammed them down on the floor, causing the entire cafeteria to shake. The students who had snickered at the prank were now jumping out of their seats and shouting. The sorceress was rattled—quite literally—and tried to remain standing.

"That was a mistake," he growled threateningly. He lifted up his lunch table, raising it over her. "You're gonna pay for it."

Jinx stood in the shadow of the table, staring up wide eyed. Her shock was wearing off far too slowly. A fist was coming at her, and she couldn't put together the proper thought structure to move.

A metal claw came from nowhere, clamping onto the fist and throwing the oversized teen back. Mammoth landed on some lunch tables, snapping them. He sat there, dazed.

Jinx stood up, giving a grudging look to Gizmo. He grinned at her.

"How do you live without me?"

Her answer was cut off as part of a lunch table came flying at the midget, knocking him down. Jinx flipped out of the way of a bench. She let out a wave of pink energy, and the tables Mammoth was using as ammo crumbled, leaving him weaponless, save his own girth. He took this to his advantage, throwing himself at Jinx. She jumped out of the way, but couldn't escape the ground as it shifted upward, and she fell forward, grunting as the tile from the floor crashed over her.

Gizmo was up a moment later, firing off rockets from his pack. They hit Mammoth squarely, and he howled, hitting the ground again. Jinx barely managed to get out of the way, climbing on top of one of the tables. It rocked beneath her, but she managed to hold on, slowly making her way behind Gizmo.

"What's our plan?" she called up to him. He was not making it so well through Mammoth's seismic blasts. She caught him nicely as his spider's legs wavered beneath him.

"Our plan?" He wormed away from her, stretching out a new pair of legs. "I'm thinking we fire everything we've got."

---

The Headmistress was not happy. All three students were currently sitting in a white room that completely neutralized their powers, at least until they could sort things out. The cafeteria had been completely destroyed, only rubble and remnants left. She wasn't worried about this, though. She was found Brother Blood far more troubling.

He was smiling.

"It's amazing," he said. "I never knew students to cause so much destruction!"

The Headmistress coughed quietly. "What would you like me to do with them?"

He grinned, folding his hands together. "Double training sessions. All together. I want them working as a team."

"If you don't mind," she said uncertainly, "Why?"

A screen blinked to life before them, revealing a man wearing an orange mask. He leered at them through a single eyehole.

"Well?" His tone was demanding.

Brother Blood smiled coldly. "I believe we've found you a team."

**Notes:**

Oh my god.

I've updated.

It's spring break. I'm devoting the week to writing. Anything. Honest.

So I've got this one updated. I'm working on quite a few others.

**Next chapter: Final Exam**


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